Vinyl Dilemma: Missing Tracks Stir Up Frenzy Over Beyonce’s ‘Cowboy Carter’

Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter premiered on Friday to rave reviews, called a “masterjsonce” and a “stellar Western epic” by critics.

Not all could celebrate, though. Of course, the fans were quite displeased, for some of the most striking of the album’s cuts, such as “Ya Ya” and “Spaghetti,” were missing from their placement in the running order on the vinyl.

One Reddit fan came to say that she was very disappointed; she had been very excited to preorder the album from Beyoncé’s website, but, lo and behold, a few of the key tracks were not on it. Vinyl enthusiasts Matt and Juan said the same on TikTok, showing the significance “Ya Ya” has among their favorites.

Includes ‘The Reported Oxygen Spaghetti’, ‘The Flamenco Linda Martell Show’, ‘The Ya Ya’, and ‘The Oh Louisiana’. It is reported that some people raised concerns over the missing tracks on CD copies.

The album’s production timeline may provide insight into these discrepancies.

Vinyl pressing schedules usually insist on submissions many months in advance, meaning that last-minute additions will always result in incomplete versions. Artists are often refining track lists and arrangements months after releases; Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo has been updated with a few fresh mixes multiple times post-launch. 

This isn’t the first time Beyoncé has revisited the album; Renaissance appeared in the re-edit version after the release of a press release that shared the five-year labor of love. Cowboy Carter was set for a trilogy to come out in 2022. However, amidst the pandemic, she pivoted to the more dance-centric Renaissance to uplift spirits during lockdown.

Beyoncé thanked God from the very bottom of her heart—God for this creative process and His divine timing, she said, alluding to an anchor in uncertainties through trusting.